Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Lijiazhuang.

Du Xing, nicknamed "Ghost Face," was directing his men to fire arrows while his injured arm was in a sling.

Since Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," left, the Zhu Family Village has been attacking the city almost every day without stopping.

Fortunately, the Li family village still had some resources, and they fought desperately time and time again, preventing the Zhu family village from crossing the line.

However, if the fighting continues without reinforcements, the situation may become unpredictable. Li Family Village is different from Zhu Family Village and Hu Family Village. It has a small permanent population and mainly relies on trading to survive. The losses in recent days have been considerable, and the village is almost wiped out.

"Young masters, if we continue this attack for another day, I'm afraid Li Family Village won't be able to hold out!"

While observing the siege, "Iron Rod" Luan Tingyu recounted the current battle situation to Zhu Hu and Zhu Biao.

The Li family village doesn't even have a single person capable of leading the charge right now, so the three of them don't need to personally take the lead. They're just watching from the rear, enjoying themselves immensely!

"That Li Ying is nothing but a brave but reckless fellow. With a little trickery, he was nearly killed. Now that we have taken over Li Family Village, let's see who in the entire Yunzhou can rival our Zhu Family Village!"

Zhu Biao's face was full of unrestrained smiles. For him, integrating the three villages of Dulonggang was only the first step. There would be a second step, a third step, and finally, he would completely transform Zhujiazhuang into a local powerful family in Shandong.

"I'm really getting impatient. We've been besieging this place for days, how come Li Family Village can still resist? Teacher Luan, let me lead a team and charge in!"

Zhu Hu was losing patience. The resistance from the Li family village far exceeded his expectations, and he was getting really impatient.

"No, when attacking Li Family Village, we must be outwardly relaxed but inwardly tight, gradually draining their manpower. If we force them into a corner, our losses will be enormous."

Zhu Biao was very cunning. He wanted to take down Li Family Village but didn't want to cause too much damage to Zhu Family Village, so he kept giving Li Family Village a glimmer of hope by sending Hu Family Village's troops to attack the city.

In reality, through this back and forth, their strength was gradually eroded, and in the end they would still perish. Most of the deaths would be in the Hu family village, without harming the Zhu family village's strength.

"Report! Something terrible has happened!"

Just then, a servant suddenly came running over, staggering.

"what's up?"

"An army is charging towards our troops!"

"what?!"

Upon hearing this news, Zhu Biao, Zhu Hu, and "Iron Rod" Luan Tingyu all jumped up.

"Where are these troops from?"

Zhu Biao thought to himself, "That's impossible. Hu Family Village has already come under the control of Zhu Family Village, while Li Family Village is now in a desolate and helpless place. There's no way anyone will come to their rescue."

Where did these soldiers come from? And from which region are they from?

"No, I don't know. I only know that there are at least one or two thousand soldiers coming, and they are coming in a very aggressive manner!"

"One or two thousand? Where did these heavenly soldiers and generals come from?!"

Zhu Hu started cursing angrily.

"Never mind who comes to rescue Li Family Village. Teacher Luan is here to oversee the battle. Second Brother, let's hurry and meet the enemy!"

Zhu Biao knew the priorities. If they didn't stop that army now, they would be attacked from both sides and would have no way to resist once the enemy attacked the rear of the Zhu Family Village army.

"Hey! What unit are you from? State your names!"

Zhu Hu and Zhu Biao led over a thousand men and hurried to stop Lin Chong and his group. Zhu Hu drew his sword and stepped forward, questioning them sternly.

"Listen up, you greenhorn! We are the heroes of Liangshan, here to rescue the Li Family Village and the Hu Family Village!"

Lin Chong spoke with considerable arrogance from his horse.

"They're bandits from Liangshan! Li Ying is colluding with the Liangshan bandits!"

Zhu Hu and Zhu Biao looked at each other in disbelief. They never expected that Liangshan Marsh would actually get involved!

"You Liangshan bandits, how dare you invade my Zhu Family Village? You're courting death!"

Zhu Hu was furious. He brandished his knife and charged straight at Lin Chong. Although he didn't know who Lin Chong was, he could tell that this man was the leader of the Liangshan army. If he could kill him, it would cause chaos in the enemy army!

"Instructor Lin, take a break, I'll handle him!"

A black horse charged out from the Liangshan stronghold; it was Ma Ji, nicknamed "Horse Hawk," wielding an iron-backed steel spear, who intercepted Zhu Hu and engaged him in battle.

Ma Ji sat upright on his horse, swaying with the horse's movements. As he rode, his iron-spinned spear clashed with Zhu Hu's steel saber, sparks flying.

Is that all you've got?

Zhu Hu mocked Ma Ji, but Ma Ji, nicknamed "Horse Hawk," ignored him. His nickname "Horse Hawk" meant that he was a master of spear and horse skills and could move like the wind. He didn't think it would be too difficult to deal with Zhu Hu.

"Would I even need to use my real skills to beat you?"

"Horse Hawk" Ma Ji first performed a "bicycle flying wheel" move, swinging his iron-backed steel spear in a circle around him, deflecting the steel knife that Zhu Hu was wielding. He then followed up with a move called "Newly Appointed Three Top-Ranked Warriors," launching three spear thrusts in quick succession: one to the brow, one to the philtrum, and one to the throat. With three "clangs," Zhu Hu's steel knife was caught off guard, unable to keep up with the attacks.

"ah!"

Zhu Hu seized the opportunity when Ma Ji was about to change his move after using three moves. He leaned forward and pulled his horse forward, using the move "Drawing the Firewood from Under the Cauldron" from below, slashing diagonally at Ma Ji's abdomen with a steel blade.

Ma Ji, nicknamed "Horse Hawk," was a "steel bridge of steel." He lay down on the horse's back, and the knife sliced ​​along the iron spine, while the steel spear thrust out at the same time.

This time, "Horse Hawk" Ma Ji's move was launched from a very unusual angle and was very difficult to defend against. Moreover, it was launched when the two horses were kicking each other, and the distance was very close.

By the time Zhu Hu hurriedly tried to defend himself, it was too late. His warhorse's left shoulder had been slashed open by Ma Ji's spear, the cut so deep that the bone was visible.

The general cherished his horse the most. Now that the horse was injured, Zhu Hu, who was a hot-tempered man, was naturally furious. He raised his knife and slashed wildly, fighting to the death with "Horse Hawk" Ma Ji.

"Second Brother, be careful!"

Zhu Biao could tell from the sidelines that the person fighting his second brother, Zhu Hu, had not yet used his full strength, and he feared that Zhu Hu would be defeated sooner or later.

Fearing for Zhu Hu's safety, Zhu Biao gripped his plum blossom spear tightly and charged into battle, but Cheng Da, wielding his Xuanhua Great Axe, intercepted Zhu Biao and began to fight.

"Brother Qin Zhi, I've long heard of the power of Cheng Yaojin's three-axe technique. It's said that he only knows three and a half moves. Brother Cheng Da, you wouldn't also only know three and a half moves, would you?"

"Leopard Head" Lin Chong was somewhat worried, fearing that Cheng Da was like his ancestor, which would be dangerous.

"Instructor Lin, don't panic. Although only three and a half of the thirty-six axe techniques passed down in their family are famous, that's because Duke Lu, Cheng Yaojin, was too poor in aptitude and only remembered three and a half of them. Later, he also remembered those axe techniques, but he just couldn't learn the others. After being passed down for several generations, this set of axe techniques has been completely mastered by their descendants. Brother Cheng Da can use these thirty-six axe techniques."

"Golden-faced Buddha," Qin Zhi said.

"That's good!"

Lin Chong was finally relieved.

Cheng Yaojin's "Three and a Half Axe Strikes" were famous throughout the world. These three axe strikes looked simple, but in reality, they required a certain level of skill. Cheng Yaojin needed both brute strength and technique to unleash their full power and firmly control the enemy.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, many heroes were defeated by Cheng Yaojin's three-strike axe in their battles, which was almost a watershed moment for masters. However, these three-strike axe also had its drawbacks.

Generally speaking, if an opponent cannot defeat Cheng Yaojin within three moves and is held back by him, the outcome is likely to be defeat. However, if the opponent can withstand these three moves and remain standing, then Cheng Yaojin will be the one to lose in the end.

This is easy to understand; it's simply a matter of endurance. Therefore, many people regard Cheng Yaojin as a touchstone. Only those who can withstand his three moves can be ranked among the heroes; otherwise, they are not qualified.

When Cheng Da faced Zhu Biao, he didn't use his family's signature three-pronged attack right away. That three-pronged attack was actually only used as a trump card. If other moves could be used to deal with him, there would be no need to use the three-pronged attack.

Ironically, the other moves of the Thirty-Six Axe Techniques are not very powerful, but the first three and a half moves are extremely powerful.

Zhu Biao was also engaged in a fierce battle with Cheng Da. Cheng Da's axe was quite heavy, but Zhu Biao was clearly able to handle it.

Cheng Da could also see that he probably wouldn't be able to defeat Zhu Biao in a normal fight; he would have to use his "three-pronged attack" to deal with Zhu Biao.

So Cheng seized the opportunity and used the first of the three moves—splitting someone's head.

The specific method is actually very simple: just chop from top to bottom with an axe.

But why is this move effective? It's because Cheng Yaojin only knows these three basic attacks. So regardless of whether the opponent attacks him, he will put all his strength into chopping down. This frenzied strength and attitude usually catches the opponent off guard, or even makes them flee in panic. This is also one of his greatest characteristics in battle: fierce, but very effective in defeating the enemy.

Because when a normal person is attacked, they will use a weapon to defend themselves. Cheng Yaojin is different. He fights with his life on the line. If you stab me with a spear, I will retaliate with an axe. At worst, we will both perish together.

In such a situation, a person with a sound mind would immediately defend against the axe; this is the principle behind "attacking where the enemy must defend."

Zhu Biao did the same; seeing the axe coming at him, he thrust his spear into Cheng Da's chest.

But he discovered that Cheng Da was fighting a life-or-death game!

That won't do. Cheng Da is fearless, but Zhu Biao can't die with him. So Zhu Biao raised his plum blossom spear to block the first axe blow.

However, his defensive stance created the preconditions for Cheng Da's second move—the Little Devil Picking Teeth—to attack.

This move targets the opponent's face. Following the initial axe strike, the attacker initiates the attack. As the opponent raises their weapon to parry, the attacker suddenly retracts the axe and strikes with the axe handle. The speed is extremely fast, catching the opponent off guard. At this point, the opponent can usually only dodge using the "Iron Bridge" move.

If this had happened during the Sui and Tang dynasties, an ordinary thug wouldn't have survived the second move. He would have been knocked to the ground by this sudden blow and would have failed before the third move could even begin.

As soon as Zhu Biao blocked the attack, Cheng Da quickly unleashed his second move, "Little Devil Picking Teeth," and swung the axe handle at him.

Zhu Biao was completely dumbfounded and didn't even have time to react. In normal warfare, there are no such tactics. They are completely unpredictable and he couldn't understand them at all!

Although he instinctively lay down on the saddle bridge to try to avoid the attack, he was still a step too slow. Cheng Da knocked the helmet off his head, and even the hair bun on his head was knocked into a mess!

It was fortunate that Zhu Biao dodged quickly enough, otherwise he would have been stabbed in the head and given a bloody hole.

But what shocked him even more was yet to come; the third move was about to be made!

This third move is also very powerful – the "Returning Slash," also known as "Ear Picking."

This move is made during a fight, when the two warhorses of both sides pass each other, and the attacker suddenly turns around and sweeps the target with three axe blows.

At this point, because the opponent used the Iron Bridge move in the previous move, the opponent has not yet reacted and is now facing this sweeping attack, making it difficult to dodge. Often, the opponent will be hit on the third move, and the outcome will be decided.

Although Cheng Yaojin only has three moves, these three simple moves can exert great power under the effect of his signature weapon, the Three-Strike Axe.

Zhu Biao was the same; he was completely caught in the trap of the three-pronged attack and couldn't extricate himself. When the two horses kicked each other, he was directly knocked off his horse by the third blow.

Fortunately, he had a solid foundation and his martial arts skills were actually quite good. He used his spear to deflect most of the attack power; otherwise, that axe blow would have cleaved him in two.

"Third brother!"

Seeing Zhu Biao in danger, Zhu Hu disregarded Ma Ji, the "Horse Hawk," and immediately spurred his horse, brandishing his sword, to rescue Zhu Biao.

Meanwhile, Luan Tingyu, the "Iron Rod" who was attacking the city, was also keeping a close eye on the situation here. Seeing that Zhu Biao and Zhu Hu had actually been lost, he had no choice but to order his troops to retreat and go to their rescue.

"Whoosh!"

"Iron Rod" Luan Tingyu was too far away to quickly get close enough to provide support. Seeing that Zhu Biao was about to be chopped down by Cheng Da's axe, he simply took the flying hammer off his horse and swung it at Cheng Da.

"careful!"

Lin Chong, nicknamed "Leopard Head," saw it clearly and immediately called out a warning when he witnessed Luan Tingyu, nicknamed "Iron Cudgel," launching a surprise attack with a flying hammer.

"Ouch! Ouch!"

Although Lin Chong, nicknamed "Leopard Head," had warned him beforehand, Cheng Da saw the flying hammer coming and tried to block it with his Xuanhua axe. However, the flying hammer was too fast and too powerful, and Cheng Da's block was ineffective. He was knocked off his horse by the flying hammer.

"You scoundrel, how dare you use hidden weapons to injure people? Do you dare to fight me?!"

This enraged Qin Zhi, the "Golden-Faced Buddha," who grabbed two bronze maces and charged forward, heading straight for Luan Tingyu, the "Iron Rod," determined to have a showdown with him.